The ground stations and tracking antennas the U.S. military relies on to communicate with its satellites — known as the Satellite Control Network, or SCN — are decades old and short of the capacity needed to keep up with the projected growth in space activities.

Turksat will launch its first domestically built communications satellite on a SpaceX Falcon 9, the Turkish government announced Sept. 17.

SpaceNews

Maxwell AFB AL (SPX) Sep 17, 2021
Just after 8 p.m. EST on Sept. 15, 2021, the next batch of space tourists lifted off aboard a SpaceX rocket. Organized and funded by entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, the Inspiration4 mission touts itself as "the first all-civilian mission to orbit" and represents a new type of space tourism. The four crew members are not the first space tourists this year. In the past few months, the world wit

El Segundo CA (SPX) Sep 16, 2021
ABL Space Systems announced that is has been selected as the launch provider for the NASA Cryogenic Demonstration Mission. Developed under a NASA Tipping Point contract awarded in 2020, the Cryogenic Demonstration Mission will launch in 2023 and demonstrate in-space transfer of cryogenic liquid hydrogen (LH2), the most challenging but highest-performing propellant for lunar and deep space explor

Washington (AFP) Sept 17, 2021
The first space tourism mission by Elon Musk's SpaceX blasted off from Florida on Wednesday and the four crew members - a billionaire and three other Americans - have already seen more than 25 sunsets and sunrises. SpaceX has released few details about their adventure since they reached an orbit which is more distant than that of the International Space Station. Here's what we know abo

Washington DC (UPI) Sep 17, 2021
The crew of the first all-civilian orbital space mission, Inspiration4, plans to splash down off the coast of Florida on Saturday evening. SpaceX plans a 7:06 p.m. EDT return to Earth, but hasn't announced the exact location. That will depend on weather and wave heights in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean. "We're seeing the world every 90 minutes. That's how fast we're trave

Moscow (Sputnik) Sep 17, 2021
The Russian government has allocated more than 4.4 billion rubles ($60.6 million) to space company Glavkosmos, a subsidiary of the Roscosmos state corporation, for the production of a rocket and spaceship for tourist flights by 2024. "To allocate in 2021 budget funds ... of 4,412,660 thousand rubles for the expenses of State Space Corporation Roscosmos", the government said in a decree, wh

Kourou, French Guiana (ESA) Sep 17, 2021
Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana is performing the first combined test in preparation for the inaugural flight of Ariane 6, Europe's new generation launch vehicle. This test confirms the operations and electrical and mechanical equipment required for integration of the upper part of the launch vehicle. The procedures are carried out in conditions representative of a launch campaign. A m

London, UK (SPX) Sep 20, 2021
The satellite, named Lunar Pathfinder, will be vital for the planned return missions to the Moon. Built by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) and supported by 11.6 million pounds in UK Space Agency funding via the European Space Agency (ESA), the satellite will also allow greater freedom for rovers operating on the far side of the Moon, allowing them to manoeuvre out of sight of their lander